1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for managing multimedia contents stored in storage mediums mounted in network connected apparatuses and in particular, to a system for managing multimedia contents in a network in which apparatus connection and disconnection and storage mediums mounting and removal are dynamically performed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a multimedia server based on the server-client system has been used to store and serve multimedia contents in network connect apparatuses. In such a server, when a new content is stored, a new link information to the content should be created and transmitted to clients on the network so that a new content becomes accessible for clients. In such a multimedia server, each time a content is stored, the server should send a new link information to all clients, which requires higher processing and network load as the number of clients increases. If such link information management is not automatically performed, a system administrator should make considerable effort to maintain the link information.
As a conventional technique to solve these problems, for example, Japanese Patent Publication 9-198295 incorporates a directory server for separately managing contents location information as directory information. With this, a client can rapidly obtain the latest directory information by requesting to the directory server.
The aforementioned method can be used to solve the problems when there is a server or a directory server performing a service to provide an information to access contents. However, in a network including personal computers, portable terminals, storage apparatuses, and the like, especially in a home network, problems as follows are caused.
One of the problems is that the apparatus providing a directory service may not be operating and in that case the directory service is not available. This problem is also caused when an apparatus providing the directory service is abruptly turned off or when none of the apparatuses has resources enough to provide the directory service.
Moreover, the apparatus storing contents may not operate at all times or the removable storage medium may be removed at any time. Accordingly, the contents required by a user may not always exist in the storage mediums in operating apparatuses connected to a network. In such a case, the contents cannot be available.